Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the witnesses. The last point is very important. I realise there are disputes but we should be very proud, generally, of the postal service we have in Ireland. They are provided by postmasters and postmistresses, postmen and postwomen. It is important to start by acknowledging that.

There is a bigger picture around the challenges in many of our communities, particularly but not exclusively rural communities. They include a sense of the loss of services and also relate to connections to communities and so on. The post office has always been and will continue to be a vital part of that. There are immediate challenges but where will we be in five to ten years' time? The nature of the changing Ireland we see will involve the impact of changing urban landscapes and so on. I continue to see a role for the post office. I would argue it would be a community hub rather than the traditional post office. I am taken by the model followed in New Zealand. They lost a lot of rural services and the post offices took over. I want to paint a picture of the future. Let us say we get over the current challenges. How can we ensure a sufficient level of service delivery within rural communities to meet the changes coming in the next five to ten years? What measures do we need to take now on big picture issues to achieve that?